By and large, female candidates
have fared quite well with alternative voting. In 1987, 14 (43.3
percent) of the 32 jurisdictions that use alternative voting today
had no women serving on the governing bodies. Since 1988, only two
governing bodies, the Chilton County Commission and the town of
Lowndesboro, have not elected any women to their governing bodies at
least once between 1988 and 1996.

In these 32 jurisdictions, the
number of female elected officials grew from a low of 25 in 1987
(prior to alternative voting) to a high of 49 in 1992 (after
alternative voting.) Between 1988 and 1998 women were elected to a
majority of the council seats in at least five of the municipalities
that use alternative voting.

Two women were elected to the Chilton
County School Board in 1988. The same thing happened in Calhoun
County. Each county has a seven-member board. Chilton County elects
by cumulative voting, and Calhoun County elects its board members by
a pure at-large system.

Women appear to run for office more
frequently in alternative voting jurisdictions. Although female
candidates weren’t interviewed, I attribute this increase in part to
the elimination of the numbered posts and the majority win feature,
because as a practical matter women were no longer seen as competing
against men or incumbents per se. Moreover, I see the system as
giving women an excellent opportunity to organize themselves locally
and plump their votes for a female candidate of their choice.

In Detroit, there have been three mayors in the past two years and the current one has come under scrutiny. Perhaps a system like instant runoff voting will help bring political stability to motor city.